Metalrage.com recently conducted an interview with SOULFLY/ex-ILL NINO guitarist Marc Rizzo. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Metalrage.com: There's been this quote going around that Max Cavalera has labeled the new album "a calm and peacefull album." Explain to me what a calm SOULFLY album sounds like.

Marc Rizzo: "You know what?! There's no way that could be true. Because this record, is the heaviest SOULFLY record so far. It's a mix of SOULFLY, and old-style SEPULTURA that Max was doing back on 'Arise' and 'Beneath the Remains'. It's almost like a thrash record, you know. The real SOULFLY elements are still there, but there's a lot of new songs that are fast-paced, a lot of guitar solos, it's got fast thrash-type rhythms. So I'm pretty sure he didn't say that. Maybe lyrically, but musically it's fucking heavy. It's the best SOULFLY record yet. It's got everything I like in heavy music. A lot of awesome drumming, a lot of double-bass. Lots of fast tempos, Max's vocals are really heavy.. I think it's awesome, it's right where 'Prophecy' left off, with a step further to the heavier side. Totally. It's a brutal record, people are going to be shocked when they hear it." More...

Roadrunner Records has advanced in the process of putting together the ground-breaking "Roadrunner All-Stars" record to mark the label's 25th Anniversary. The full-length release will contain original musical collaborations between past and present Roadrunner artists. Approximately 50 musicians are expected to participate in this record, making it a most elaborate collaboration project.

Four central musicians have been chosen to produce and write all the songs. Previously announced were Joey Jordison (Slipknot), Dino Cazares (ex-Fear Factory/Brujeria) and Robert Flynn (Machine Head). The fourth writer/producer has recently been selected - 19 year-old metal prodigy Matt Heafy will take the lead of the fourth team. His band, Trivium, has been called "the valedictorian(s) of the 2005 metal class" by Hit Parader Magazine. "It blew my mind to be asked to participate on this album and write a few tracks," says Heafy "It's an amazing honor to be able to record with artists that I used to emulate and listen to growing up." These four musicians will not only play on the songs they have written but also assemble a unique team of Roadrunner artists to appear on each track.

Notable progress has been made in Jordison's, Cazares' and Flynn's teams. Music has been laid down, but vocals have yet to be added. The vocalists for the tracks have not been confirmed as of yet. The artists that have contributed to the tracks recorded thus far are: More...

Roadrunner Records' 25th Anniversary celebration continues today with the double-disc releases of two RR classics - Fear Factory's "Demanufacture" and Sepultura's "Roots." The 2nd disc of each release? Basically, it covers everything that was recorded during each of the respective recording sessions, and the releases contain expanded artwork with liner notes in a 24 page booklet.

In a recent interview with SoulflyWeb.com, Cavalera had the following to say about the upcoming CD: "The events that took place this past December, with the death of Dimebag Darrell and the passing of [Max's step-grandson] Moses, had a huge influence on the way that I chose to present this album, so I'd say that that made it a bit darker. We did some of the recordings in France, Turkey, and Russia and we used some instruments that you could only find in those countries. Those recordings will definitely have a strong effect on the direction that the worldly and atmospheric elements of the album take. But Marc [Rizzo, guitar] and Joe [Nunez, drums], those guys are both huge metalheads, and they kind of forced me to make a very heavy, brutal album. I don't listen to metal as much as I used to, but Marc just lives and breathes metal. Everything like LAMB OF GOD, SLAYER, MAIDEN, NAPALM DEATH, and some extremely crazy death metal shit. He loves to play those riffs and he's amazing at it, so that'll be on there, too."

Soulfly's self-titled debut will be getting the Roadrunner "25th Anniversary Reissue" treatment with a reissue of the effort currently set for August 30th. No word yet on extra bonus content. Soulfly's new album "Dark Ages" is currently on track for a September 13th release date through Roadrunner

SOULFLY have issued a statement disputing the account offered by a Russian politician regarding an incident in Moscow late last month which caused the group to cancel their concerts in the Russian Far East cities of Vladivostok and Khabarovsk.

MosNews.com had previously reported that SOULFLY were boarding a plane from Moscow to Vladivostok on April 29 when Valery Kan, a local MP in the city of Ussuriisk, attempted to take SOULFLY mainman Max Cavalera's (ex-SEPULTURA) stepdaughter Roxanne to the business class section of the plane, SOULFLY's Russian promoters, FeeLee Management, were quoted by a Vladivostok television company as saying. More...

Word has it there will also be one more additional track on the release, which has yet-to-be-named. Mixing duties are being handled by Terry Date, and "Dark Ages" is currently scheduled for a mid-September release.

SOULFLY, the band led by former SEPULTURA frontman Max Cavalera, cancelled its concerts in the Russian Far East cities of Vladivostok and Khabarovsk after an incident involving a Russian politician.

The thrash metal group was boarding a plane from Moscow to Vladivostok on April 29 when Valery Kan, a local MP in the city of Ussuriisk, reportedly attempted to take Cavalera's stepdaughter Roxanne to the business class section of the plane, SOULFLY's Russian promoters, FeeLee Management, were quoted by a Vladivostok television company as saying.

He approached Cavalera's wife [manager Gloria Cavalera] and stepdaughter with two bodyguards. Cavalera was already sitting in his seat on the plane with the other musicians. The group's backstage personnel was boarding together with his wife and daughter and tried to intervene but Kan started to threaten them. When the police arrived, Kan showed them his indentity papers, mentioning his immunity as a deputy. The policemen then told the musicians that they were unable to intervene.

SOULFLY decided to cancel its concerts in Vladivostok on April 29 and in Khabarovsk on May 3.

Initial reports suggested that Kan was drunk. When Cavalera's wife attempted to stand up for her daughter, Kan reportedly pushed her away shouting obscenities.

Later, Kan was quoted by a journalist of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper as saying he did not harass Roxanne and accused the group members of offending him. He said he did not shout obscenities or push Cavalera's wife. Kan said he was in the airport with a children's taekwondo team that came home from the championship in Italy, and just wanted to have a conversation with the musicians, but they told him to go away. However, he did not want the journalist to mention his deputy status.

According to a post at SoulflyWeb.com, SOULFLY mainman Max Cavalera has been announcing during recent concerts in Europe that the the band's new album will be entitled "Dark Ages".

Cavalera recently returned to the recording studio to finish up a couple of tracks for the group's fifth full-length CD, tentatively due in September via Roadrunner Records. Mixing duties are being handled by Terry Date, who has previously worked with PANTERA and DEFTONES, among others.

SOULFLY's most recent studio album, "Prophecy", was issued in March 2004.

HOSTILE BREED's latest album, "The Second Cut", was released last April via top Russian metal record label Irond Ltd. "The Second Cut" includes a guest appearance on vocals by SKINLAB frontman Steev Esquivel on the song "Show Me the Road", a guitar solo by INVOCATOR's Flemming C. Lund on "Civilization of Hatred", and an appearance by the singer from Danish band SACRIFICIAL on the song "Color of Freedom". Production on the album was handled by Jacob Hansen (INVOCATOR, MNEMIC, RAUNCHY, HATESPHERE). The CD cover artwork was conceived by the Moscow art studio Traum.

Roadrunner Records is in the process of putting together a groundbreaking record to mark the label's 25th Anniversary. Tentatively titled "Roadrunner All-Stars", the full length release, a 'master-class' in hard rock, will contain original tracks that are collaborations between past and present Roadrunner stars.

Four central musicians will be chosen to produce and write all the songs. Those chosen thus far are Joey Jordison (Slipknot), Dino Cazares (ex-Fear Factory/Brujeria) and Robert Flynn (Machine Head). The fourth writer/producer is yet to be named. These four musicians will not only play on the songs they have written but also assemble a unique team of artists to appear on each track. In order to cover as wide a spectrum as possible, no musician will play for more than one writer/producer and each song will feature a different vocalist.

I recently attended the Soulfly and Morbid Angel show in Philadelphia, Pa on February 25th. I got the chance to take some pictures for the site, they're not up in the gallery section, go here to check 'em out.

I recently had the chance to attend the Soulfly and Morbid Angel show in Philadelphia on Friday, February 25th at the Trocadero Theater. I also got to take a bunch of pictures as well, they will be up on the site in the very near future. Anyway, this is how the show went: More...

For those of you who have been reading news that the debut Soulfly DVD - "The Song Remains Insane" - has been delayed, they are wrong...and right. Those reports are for the release of the DVD outside of the US, as they are the only areas affected. In the US, the DVD works damn fine, and will still be released this coming Tuesday, March 1st, as planned.

Soulfly have once again tapped Terry Date (Deftones, dredg, White Zombie) to mix their forthcoming new album, which is tentatively expected out in August via Roadrunner. More on that can be found in a recent interview with band frontman Max Cavalera located here. As previously reported, Soulfly's live DVD effort "The Song Remains Insane" will hit stores on March 01st.

This March, God Forbid will begin their final round of touring in support of their critically acclaimed and highly successful "Gone Forever" album. The band will first serve as direct support to Soulfly for a string of East Coast dates, followed by a headlining stint in the U.K. This will lead immediately into their first U.S. headlining tour, which also features Caliban, It Dies Today and Full Blown Chaos. The four-week trek, which runs through April, includes a stop at the esteemed New England Metal And Hardcore Fest.

The group will proceed to enter the studio in May to begin recording their highly anticipated new album, "IV:Constitution Of Treason," with Jason Suecof (Trivium) at Audiohammer Studios and Eric Rachel (Atreyu, Dillinger Escape Plan) at Trax East. The album is tentatively set for a fall 2005 release.

Doc Coyle (guitars, vocals) checks in with the following report: More...

Rising from the ashes of his former group, Max Cavalera and Soulfly burst onto the metal scene almost a decade ago with abrasive guitars, pounding rhythms and a primal guttural roar sounding their arrival. Elements of thrash, hip-hop, reggae and world beats collide and blend on record to create a sound that is engaging, unique and unmistakably Soulfly. But those albums are just a part of the equation - to see Soulfly live to see them at their best and this DVD does just that.

"The Song Remains Insane" is an all-access journey with Soulfly captured live around the world throughout their career. Complete with all of the band's videos, over an hour of live footage, interviews with Max Cavalera and much more, "The Song Remains" Insane is like a concrete exclamation point to the undeniable hard rock statement that is Soulfly.

ABLOOM, the Los Angeles-based group featuring former SOULFLY members Mikey Doling (guitar, ex-SNOT), Marcelo Dias (bass), and Roy Mayorga (drums), have parted ways with vocalist Jasan Radford (ONESIDEZERO). The group, who are currently unsigned, are seeking a replacement.

Soulfly have enlisted Terry Date (Deftones, Pantera) to mix their upcoming new album which they have been recording as of late. A release through Roadrunner in the spring is expected. In related news, band bassist Bobby Burns will be hitting the studio early next month to produce new material for KY-based band 7daysun.